Premature and unwell babies are often cared for in incubators, which are designed to keep the baby warm, maintain an atmosphere that has a suitable humidity and that is as free of contaminants as possible.
Existing incubators may include systems designed to introduce clean air into the main chamber of the incubator. Such air should ideally be as free as possible of particulate and microbial contaminants. In some hospital environments, the ambient air is already sufficiently clean (due to, for example, air conditioning systems) such that incubators do not necessarily need specialised air treatment equipment. However, in other hospital environments—particularly in developing countries—the ambient air has undergone minimal conditioning, and therefore the need for specialised air treatment in incubators is of more importance.
In addition to clean air, existing incubators include systems designed to provide a suitably humidified environment inside the main chamber of the incubator. The water used in humidification systems should ideally be as free as possible of particulate and microbial contaminants. In some hospitals—particularly in developing countries—a clean water source is often not available, and therefore the need for specialised water treatment in incubators is of more importance.
Current incubators suffer from a number of problems. Incubators tend to be made of expensive materials and require regular maintenance. This serves to increase the costs and make the incubators less affordable and accessible. This is particularly the case in developing countries.
Maintenance of existing incubators can also be expensive. In developing countries there is sometimes no one who has the expertise necessary to perform even routine maintenance tasks. This leads to expensive incubators being unusable because of routine faults and lack of scheduled preventative maintenance.
As discussed earlier, there are systems available which attempt to maintain a sterilized environment, but such systems are often expensive, bulky and require regular servicing or replacement.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved sterilization and humidification apparatus and/or an improved incubator or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.